March 12, 2025

Haman’s Last Will and Testament

An early 18th-century Purim parody imagines Haman rotting in a jail cell, awaiting his execution, dictating his last will and testament to his ten beloved sons. Jeremy Brown surfaces this obscure text, and asks what its meaning might have been when composed in Livorno by David Polido, and what message it may contain for contemporary American Jewry.
March 10, 2025

RESPONSE: Rav Hirsch and Jewish Distinctiveness

What did R. Samson Raphael Hirsch think of Jewish distinctiveness? Did he believe there is a distinctive biological propensity for superior spiritual potential? Moshe Y. Miller, in responding to a recent review of his new book on Hirsch’s religious universalism, does some explaining.
March 5, 2025

TRADITION Questions: Weak Ties and Purim

With Purim a week away, Chaim Strauchler questions the number of weak-ties in our Jewish communities and what they say about Purims past and future.
March 3, 2025

PODCAST: Esther, the Spies & Faith

Mali Brofsky and Mark Smilowitz discuss the central thesis of his recent essay, “Esther and the Spies: A Bible-Based Symbolic Meaning of Walled Cities from the Time of Joshua” (Fall 2024). The two explore its timely Purim message and its claims regarding faith and meaning, and how it can serve as a source of support during the great challenges facing us today.